1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method of the information processing apparatus, and an information processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in order to promote work efficiency, printers and multi-function peripherals (MFPs) are introduced into an office, and are used via a network. In this situation, inexpensive printers and MFPs, each of which are assumed to be originally placed on the desk side and to be connected to a PC via a USB interface, are introduced into an office, and the opportunity of using them via a network in place of the USB interface is increasing. Note that “USB” is an abbreviation for “Universal Serial Bus”, and “PC” is an abbreviation for “Personal Computer”.
In this environment, when the user carries out a print operation via the network, and goes to a remote printer for printed materials, that print operation is often not completed due to an error. At this time, if the printer has a liquid crystal screen, it can display the contents of the error that has occurred on the liquid crystal screen. In case of a skippable error, the printer can further display that fact. Then, by checking this error display, the user judges whether or not the error can be skipped. If the user determines that the error can be skipped, he or she presses an error skip button equipped on the printer to continue the print operation while ignoring the occurred error. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-047701 discloses a technique that allows the same user not to confirm an error which has been skipped, so as to reduce the load on the user upon checking whether or not to skip an error.
However, for example, some low-cost printers are not equipped with any liquid crystal screen so as to reduce cost. For such low-cost printer having no liquid crystal screen, an application that allows the user to confirm details of an error status of the printer on the PC side is normally prepared. However, with this application, if the user finds occurrence of an error only when he or she inputs a print designation to the printer via the network and goes from the PC to the distant printer for printed materials, the user has to go back to the PC from which the print designation was input, so as to grasp a cause of the error. This imposes a heavy load on the user.
At this time, some printers are designed to allow a forced print operation if the error does not cause any print trouble, and the user presses an error skip button at his or her judgment. In this case, the load on the user can be reduced. However, when the forced print operation is performed by pressing the error skip button, the application on the PC also cancels the error display. Hence, the user cannot recognize why the error has occurred.